Commission wants to criminalise child ‘grooming’ on the Internet

To mark ‘Universal Children’s Day’, the Commission has urged member states to do more to protect children from sexual exploitation and said it was considering criminalising the solicitation of children for abuse through the Internet.

“We are considering the possibility of strengthening the EU legislative framework, especially concerning offences committed through the Internet. We are looking at, in particular, the criminalisation of ‘grooming’, which is the solicitation of a child for sexual purposes, and the enhancing of international cooperation to detect crime and identify child victims on the Internet,” said the commissioner responsible for freedom, security and justice, Franco Frattini, on Universal Children’s Day on 20 November 2007.

Presenting a Commission implementation report of the Council framework decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, adopted in 2003, Frattini said he was disappointed that many member states had so far failed to inform the Commission of the real implementation of some essential provisions set out in it.

These provisions concern in particular “the jurisdiction rule, which obliges member states to prosecute sex tourism and the special treatment of children as particularly vulnerable victims in criminal proceedings”. According to the implementation report, sex tourism mostly escapes investigation and prosecution. 

Frattini also urged member states to do more to fight child pornography, as the level of protection on the matter varies in the EU-27 depending on the age of consent to sexual relations established by national legislation, which ranges from 13 to 17 years old.

To mark Universal Children’s Day, the European Child Safety Alliance launched a series of publications that aim to provide a comprehensive child safety review in 18 European countries and provide recommendations for action to increase safety.

‘Child Safety Report Cards’ summarise individual countries’ national policies in 2006 with respect to the safety provided for children and adolescents, whereas ‘Child Safety Country Profiles’ provide information on child and adolescent injuries and deaths and socio-demographic determinants for each country. 

According to the reports, Sweden is the EU country with the lowest child and adolescent death rate in 2006, followed by the Netherlands and Norway, whereas Belgium, Estonia and Greece had the highest rates. The main cause of child and adolescent injury or death is motor vehicle accidents (49.1%), followed by suicide (13.3%). 

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